Services for mental health disorders provide treatment, support, or advocacy to people who have psychiatric illnesses. These may include medical, behavioral, social, and legal services.
Medical services are usually provided by mental health experts like psychiatrists, psychologists, and behavioral health counselors in a hospital or outpatient clinic. Behavioral services go hand-in-hand with medical services, referring specifically to pharmacological and cognitive therapy. Social services are usually provided by the government or nonprofit organizations. They arrange housing options, job training, or other community resources overseen by experienced professionals to ensure overall productivity and well-being of individuals with mental illnesses. Legal services ensure that people with mental health disorders are not discriminated against in society and advocate for their basic human rights. In addition, legal services make sure that those individuals who might be a danger to themselves or others are diverted away from the judicial system to receive adequate treatment for underlying mental health issues.
The information provided below is primarily regarding services offered within the United States of America, unless otherwise specified.
Medical services
There are several types of medical service settings that can serve to deliver mental health care or services. These include, but are not limited to family practice, psychiatric hospitals or clinics, general hospitals, and community mental or behavioral health centers. Different services endorse different payment models. Some may be more government-based or patient-based, while others may endorse mixed-models payment systems. Not all service types or institutions are accessible by all patients. A considerable barrier surrounds the difficulty in finding in-network mental health care providers, given the backdrop of our current and critical nationwide shortage of mental health professionals.
Family practice or general practice centers in communities are often the first line for assessment of mental health conditions. The basic services provided may include prescribing psychiatric drugs and sometimes providing basic counseling or therapy for "common mental disorders." Secondary medical services may include psychiatric hospitals, or clinics. However, given the trend towards the deinstitutionalization of mental health hospitals - the movement of mental health patients out of the "asylum-based" mental health care system towards community-oriented care - psychiatric hospitals have been going out of favor, with services being directed to wards within general hospitals as well as more locally based community mental health services.
Mental health services may be provided either on an inpatient or, more commonly, an outpatient basis. A wide range of treatments may be provided to patients, with a mainstay of treatment being centered on psychiatric drugs. Various mental health professionals may be involved including psychiatrists, psychiatric and mental health nurses and, less commonly, non-medical professionals such as clinical psychologists, social workers, and various kinds of therapists or counselors. Usually headed by psychiatrists and therefore based on a medical model, multidisciplinary teams may be involved in assertive community treatment and early intervention, and may be coordinated via a case management system (sometimes referred to as "service coordination").
Behavioral therapy services
Numerous services exist exclusively for the therapy of mental disorders and distress. Since symptoms vary across individuals, therapy is usually individualized for patients. Methods exist that target numerous areas at once, such as integrative psychotherapy (an eclectic tailored mix of approaches). Integrative psychotherapists consider many factors when treating a patient, such as preferences, physical capabilities, or family support. In contrast to integrative psychotherapy, many approaches focus on particular areas. Cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy are all examples of approaches that have primary focuses when attempting to treat a patient. Conditions that can be treated by these therapies include anxiety, eating disorders, substance use disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, and insomnia. The chosen therapy depends on several factors, with patient preference being a significant one.